The Last Animorph
by Hillary
Summary: A girl from the future is brought back to find the secrets of her past...


Ookay… I've never submitted fanfic here before, so I don't know if it'll turn out right. I'll fix it if it doesn't. I wrote this story when I was in 5th grade, a couple of years ago, so it might not be the best in the world. I'll have more recent fanfics later, though (like when I finish them…)

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The Last Animorph

Prologue

I ran. I was not about to get caught by the Yeerks. I was the last of about twenty humans who were not infested. Ever since the morph-capable humans, the Animorphs, were caught, the human population was dropping very quickly.

The city streets were unused. Rusted cars lying in heaps along the sides. Run down buildings, some with huge holes and Taxxons squirming about. The worst sights of all were the Yeerk Pools. I almost reached the hideaway, where us humans hid. I took a quick glance behind me. Big mistake. There were two human men after me, and a Hork-Bajir right behind them. Of course, they were Controllers, not real people.

"You're trapped, human," one of the men sneered. He was right. This was it. I knew what happened when they caught you.

The Hork-Bajir grabbed me roughly. He practically dragged me to the nearest Yeerk Pool. At that pool was probably one of the last people I wanted to see.

"Is this one of the humans that have been resisting us?" he asked. One of the former Animorphs. He would have been handsome, if it wasn't for the evil look on his face. I believe his human name was Jake. But the Yeerk in his head was the newly appointed Visser Three.

I didn't say anything. All I could think about was "I'm dead." Of course, I wasn't actually going to _die_, but dying is better than being infested by a Yeerk. The Hork-Bajir led me to the pool. Down to the infestation pier. My head was just above the pool, a Yeerk was going to enter my head. My long brown hair was pulled back behind my ears. I shut my eyes tight. Then… suddenly, although my eyes were closed, I saw a brilliant flash of light.

I was lying down on something. I moved slightly, and heard a crunching sound. I heard the sound before, but it was so long ago, I didn't remember what it was. I opened my eyes, and I saw… leaves. I sat up quickly. I started to feel lightheaded, then fell back onto the ground. This time, I sat up slowly, first on my elbows, then sitting up straight. I heard the crunching sound again. I looked around me, and saw trees. A forest! A forest?

I glanced up at the sky. Blue. Not the weird mix of yellow and blue and green. I saw a hawk circling high above my head. Hey… wild animals? The Yeerks killed all the animals. This was very weird. I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. Jeans, and an orange T-shirt. Not the ragged jeans full of holes and dirty white shirt I always wore.

I stood up. Then I heard voices.

"Where's Tobias?" one asked. A boy's voice.

"He'll be here soon, I guess," said a girl.

My first reaction was to hide. I decided to do just that, and quietly hid behind a bush.

I saw a group of kids. Four. Then, I saw someone who scared the wits out of me. An Andalite leaped into view. I freaked out, and jumped up. My first thought was, _Visser One_! Then, _No, he's too young_.

But it was too late to hide again. The five of them were staring at me. They were all familiar. But who were they? Then I remembered.

"You're… you're…" I stammered. Then I took a deep breath. "You're the Animorphs!"

That definitely took them by surprise. They all looked at each other.

"Who are you?" one boy, Jake, demanded.

I still didn't know what to think. The Animorphs were supposed to be Controllers, all except the hawk, who was killed.

"I-I'm… wait. How do I know you're not Yeerks?"

The other boy, Marco, was looking at me suspiciously. "And how do we know you're not?"

"Well, I've been running away from them since the Animorphs were all caught. Then I was little. Now there are only twenty free humans left—" I stopped myself. What was I doing? Obviously this was some kind of a trick.

"Twenty free humans left? Have you hit your head or something?" Rachel asked me.

"I think I'm dreaming. Yes, this must be a dream. I'm going to wake up, and find myself back where I'm supposed to be, where…" then I remember that I was about to be infested by a Yeerk when this "dream" started. I looked up again. "I don't know why I'm asking this, but what year is it?"

"Um, duh, it's 1997," Marco told me.

"1997? Yeah right. That was 15 years ago. Before the Yeerks took over Earth."

"Before the Yeerks _what_?" Jake said. "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm Diana. I'm one of the last free humans."

"Ax? Do you have any explanation for this?" Cassie asked the Andalite. Ax? Oh, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.

"I believe we have a visitor from the future. If I am correct, the year 2012," he answered.

"You're kidding," Marco replied, though he knew Ax was right.

"Future? This isn't happening. This can't be happening. This…" I felt a wave of sickness. I shut my eyes, then I blacked out.

Day One

When I came to, I expected myself to be in the little underground room where I lived. Instead, I was in some kind of a shack. All around me were burned objects. Chairs, clothes, cans. I tried sitting up, and, just like the first time, I got dizzy and fell back.

Are you awake? I heard in my head. I looked around quickly from the laying position I was in.

"What… who…" I didn't know what to ask.

Oh, sorry. I'm Tobias. My friends told me you might know who I am.

I saw a red-tailed hawk perched on a chair that was half-burnt. At least, I think it was a red-tailed hawk. I'd read a few books I managed to find once, and I discovered an animal book. I got really interested in it, because there were barely any animals living anymore. All I could examine was bones, which weren't really very fun to look at. I didn't have much else to do, because most people didn't want anything to do with me. I didn't have a family or any real friends. My parents were some of the first Controllers, and my older brother was killed in the time when the Yeerks had enough people to just go and attack Earth. All my friends had either died or were Controllers, and I had no relatives that I knew of. I was pretty much a loner, with a big imagination.

You okay? Tobias asked me. I realized I was just staring at him, lost in my thoughts.

"Yeah, um, I think so." My voice was just slightly raspy, compared to the others' voices. The other Animorphs, I mean.

"Is she awake?" I heard Rachel's voice.

"How can we trust this kid?" Marco was asking. "I mean, if the future _is_ full of human-Controllers, then she should be one too."

"Shhh." Cassie. "She might hear you."

Just then, Cassie and Rachel walked into the shack. Again, I sat up slowly.

"So. You okay?" Rachel asked me. I nodded.

She just woke up, Tobias informed them.

"Is it okay if we ask you some things?" Cassie wondered. "About what it's like… where you're from?"

I nodded again. "What do you want to know?"

They glanced at each other. "For one thing, has anybody won the fight?" Rachel started.

"Yes."

She hesitated for a second, then asked, "Who?"

I lowered my eyes. "The Yeerks," I answered. My voice was barely audible.

There was a long pause after that. Then Cassie broke the silence. "What about your family? And friends?"

"I don't have any. I mean, they're either dead or Controllers," I said bitterly.

"And what were you doing before you came here?"

"Well," I looked a little embarrassed. "I was at a Yeerk Pool. They caught me, and I was about to be…" I trailed off, but they obviously knew what I was talking about.

"And nobody tried to save you?" Cassie asked.

I looked at her like she was crazy. "Why would anyone try to save _me_?"

"Well, I'd think that since you're young, you'd have some kind of guardian or foster parent taking care of you," Cassie explained. I shook my head slowly.

"No way. They treat me like some sort of a freak or something. No one talks to me, no one cares what happens to me. If I break my arm or something, I'll have to tend to it myself. Nobody would risk their freedom just to save me."

"That's not right," Rachel replied. "Why would they do that to you?"

"I don't know, exactly," I told her. "It has something to do with my family. Someone in my family did something that made everyone angry at them, I guess."

"Who?"

I shrugged. Then Jake walked in, followed by Marco. I didn't even realize that Tobias left.

"We have to figure out what we're going to do with you," Jake said to me. "Do you want to try to get back to the time where you come from?"

I knew the answer to this one. I was about to say a word, then stopped myself. "Heck no," I said instead. I noticed Marco was trying to hide a smile, but I ignored him.

"What about your fam—"

"Don't ask," Rachel interrupted. I'd already had enough of talking about them, and Rachel must have sensed this.

"Ok. But we don't know how we can keep you. I mean, you can't just hide out in the shack for the rest of your life."

"What about school? We tried it for Ax," Cassie suggested. Jake shook his head.

"And it was a major disaster."

"But that was Ax. He's really an Andalite. Diana is a real human." Cassie turned to me. "How old are you?"

I thought for a second. It was hard to remember. Then I remembered and told them.

"Ouch. That's a few grades below us," Marco said. "Besides, are we sure she can go to school?"

"I've been to school before. Of course, I was, like, 7 the last time I went to school, but I was always ahead in the class."

They considered this. Then Jake nodded. "I guess we can try it for a day and see how it goes. But if anything happens, no more school, okay?"

That was fine with me. Besides, the thought of school was a little tiring. I was old enough to go to Middle School. I think. I had bad memories about my last day of school. It was the last day for the year, and it was when all the chaos started. I didn't even want to start remembering what it looked like.

"But what will we do about where she lives? She can't exactly live in the forest with Ax and Tobias," Cassie pointed out.

"Well…" they all looked at me. I guess they didn't know what to do with me.

"I can spend a few nights in here," I assured them. "After all, I've been in worse places than this."

"You must have such a luxurious lifestyle," Marco muttered. Rachel elbowed him.

"Actually, it wasn't really all that beautiful," I replied.

"Listen. Do you know what a joke is?" Marco asked me.

"Uh, Yeah."

He paused for a second, then shook his head. "Never mind." He and the others left, but Jake stayed behind for a second.

"You sure you'll be alright in here?" Jake asked me.

"Of course."

"Well, just remember that Ax and Tobias are around if anything happens."

"What could happen?" Jake just shook his head and left.

I scooted back until my back touched the wall. I settled down, and started thinking about where I was. I hadn't seen much of it, but I'd read many books. Some were non-fiction and showed information on certain people of the past. There were also all kinds of history and books on nature. I wondered if this place was like the cities in the books.

I thought about my family. My mother and father, who I barely knew. They were always busy, and never acted like most of my friends' parents did. They weren't as loving. I never got bedtime stories, or goodnight kisses, or anything like that. My brother and I were closer than most siblings. He was attending a local college when the attacks started. It was on that first day that he was killed. I never found out exactly why. A few weeks later, I was all alone, with no friends and family. I didn't really know what it was like to have friends. But the Animorphs, who almost all the humans blamed Earth's destruction on, were becoming my friends.

The thing that kept pressing my mind was, how long would that last?

Day Two

I had a really bad night, due to my nightmares. They kept coming, but there was one I remembered vividly even after I woke up.

I was walking through the woods with the other Animorphs. We were all smiling and laughing, when I looked at Jake's face. Instead of a smiling, human face, I saw the face of the young man I saw at the Yeerk Pool. Then that face changed into a tiger. I started running, a tiger, gorilla, grizzly bear, wolf, Andalite, and hawk after me. All around me were the images of damage, destruction, death. The images I had tried to get rid of for years. Finally, I could run no more, and I slowed to a stop and turned around. Only the tiger was there, readying itself to go for the kill. The tiger lowered itself, gathered up enough power, then…

My eyes flew open. I was breathing hard. Sweat dripped down my forehead. My heart was racing. I glanced around the room, and remembered where I was. I stood up slowly, and tried to slow my breathing down. I pushed my hair back so it was all behind my head, instead of all over my face and shoulders. I sighed, and put my head back so it hit the wall softly. Then I reached into my pocket, searching for the little brush I always had with me. I was surprised I had it, because I had changed outfits when I came to this time.

I waited for the others. Rachel was going to bring some clothes borrowed from Jordan, her younger sister. Cassie was bringing some stuff I needed for school.

I stepped outside of the shack. The sunlight blinded me for a second, and I recoiled, my arm over my eyes. Then I went out again, not looking at the canopy of trees like an idiot. I looked ahead and saw the two girls coming my way.

"So. You ready for school?" Rachel asked me. She handed me a bag with an outfit in it. A jumper and light blue shirt.

"Just as long as it's not as I remember it," I answered.

"Just remember, if you hear anything objectable, don't say anything. You're 15 years ahead of us," Cassie reminded me.

I nodded. I got ready for the day.

We started walking to the school. At the Middle School were crowds and crowds of kids. I'd never seen so many free humans in my life. Then I saw a Controller who I definitely recognized. His human's last name was Chapman. I stood right where I was, unsure of what to do. Run? Stand my ground? Scream? I hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Cassie whispered. She followed my gaze, then nodded. "He won't do anything unless you show him you know he's a Controller." I took a few deep breaths and continued on my way.

"Oh, um, you _do_ know what a school bell is, right?" Rachel asked me.

"Yes. Why?"

"Just wondering."

Then the bell rang, and the two girls showed me where to go.

"Just follow those kids over there," Cassie explained, pointing at the crowd of kids that looked about my age. I went over to join them.

Okay. I'm not going to go through all the details of what happened that day. Let me just say it was _boring_. Practically everything we talked about I already knew.

At the end of the day, I met up with my friends and got ready to leave. We were some of the last kids on the school grounds. I started walking, when someone grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me back.

"Hey!" I cried out. I turned around to see who had done that. I saw… Melissa Chapman. But it wasn't her from that time period. It was the Melissa from 2012. The Controller Melissa. Bad, I kept repeating in my mind. Bad bad bad bad _bad_.

"Hello, Diana. You know who I am?" I nodded tightly. If Melissa from the future was here, and she got in contact with any other Yeerks…

"We almost had you. If we did, it'd be another victory. You're the only one that we haven't taken."

"Only what?" This confused me. But I guess the Animorphs figured out I was gone, and came back.

"Who're you?" Jake asked of Melissa. She just smiled and left.

I stood there, shaking. This was bad. _Really_ bad.

Day Three

I didn't go to school the next day. I had to have time to think the situation over. I was the only one they hadn't caught? What did it mean? And how did I get here in the first place? Not like I ever wanted to go home.

What's up? Tobias asked me at one point in the day. I was sitting on the ground in the forest, my back against a tree.

"I was thinking. Melissa said that I was the only one they didn't catch. I'm just wondering what she meant."

Well, can't help you there, Tobias thought-spoke. I have no idea whatsoever what's going on.

"You're not alone."

I leaned back against the tree. Next thing I knew, I was asleep. I was having a dream that was almost like a flashback. There were older versions of Marco and Rachel. No Jake, No Cassie, No Tobias or Ax.

__

"Here," Rachel was saying. She gave me something. "This gives you the power to morph. Use this to continue what we started."

"But why are you giving the power to me?" I asked her.

"You're our last hope. Within the next few weeks, Marco and I will be Controllers. You need to make sure they never catch you."

I promised them I'd never give in to the Yeerks. I clutched the little blue box, and then I woke up.

"I need to stop having weird dreams," I said to myself. I couldn't help but think about my family again. My older brother, who looked a lot like Jake. I didn't know why, but I could not remember his name. Then I heard footsteps. I stood up quickly, and looked to the direction of the noises. I saw Jake. It must've been in the afternoon. I'd slept for a long time. Suddenly, I had another flashback.

__

"I think this'll be one of the last times we'll be together as brother and sister," said a boy who looked like Jake. My brother.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at me with sad eyes. "I mean, this is it. You'll see." He gave me a short hug, and I returned it.

I opened my eyes. "What? Are you okay?" Jake was asking me. I realized I had fainted.

"Yes. Yes, I'm okay. But I want to know, do you have an older brother or sister?"

Jake looked down. "Yes. Tom. But he's…" Jake didn't finish the sentence, but I knew what he meant.

"Was your brother born yet this year?" Jake suddenly asked me.

"Well… yes, I think so. He should be about…" I looked at Jake. "About your age."

"About my age? Maybe he could be in school with me," Jake considered. I nodded slowly. But I was having different ideas.

My brother looked like Jake. He was the same age as Jake at this time. He even sort of acted like Jake. Could it be?

Was Jake my older brother?

Day Four

The next day, nothing terrible had happened. No one came looking for me or the Animorphs. That day, after they got back from school, they were talking in Cassie's barn. I was with them. As Rachel, Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias talked about what they were going to do, I thought. Maybe my brother hadn't died. Maybe… maybe he had become a Controller instead. I really didn't have many memories about the years before the Yeerks took over. Or the first few years it was like that. Maybe I did not remember something correctly.

"So. What I'm thinking is, scout out the Yeerk Pool out in order to discover what's going to be happening. We know something's up," Rachel said.

"I don't think so. Our last few missions haven't been paradise. I doubt this one would be any better," Marco argued.

I just sat there, thinking. Suddenly, I had another flashback.

__

"It's a suicide mission," the boy said. Jake. No, my brother. Who?

"Then why are you going? You can't just leave, knowing you're going to die!" I cried out.

"I didn't say we're going to die…" he answered.

"Please don't leave me," I begged.

"You'll be okay. Trust me." With that, he was gone.

I opened my eyes. I jumped up like I had done on that first day. "You can't go!" I cried. Immediately after that I started to turn red.

Everyone stared at me, startled. "What's wrong?" Rachel asked me.

"I…I don't know. I just have a really bad feeling about this."

"Well, we all have doubts about every mission. This isn't any different," Rachel replied.

I sat back down and shook my head. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

They all just continued talking about their plan. There was just something not right about it.

Day Five

The next day, the Animorphs left me alone in the forest. They were going to find out what's going on at the Yeerk Pool with roach morphs. I only wished I could go with them.

I was leaning against that same tree again. That must've been my thinking spot or something. Then I fell asleep. I had a weird dream.

I was hiding… somewhere. Somewhere familiar. My vision was way better than it was supposed to be. I was watching five cockroaches scuttle across the ground. They kept along the walls, so as not to be seen. Then, one was nearly stepped on by a Hork-Bajir.

Separate! I heard Jake cry.

The cockroaches were chased by almost all of the Controllers at the Yeerk Pool (which was the place they were in). Eventually, they were all caught. That's when I woke up.

I opened my eyes. My heart rate was definitely up again. "Hey!" I shouted. I jumped up and hit my head on a branch. I let out a cry of pain and rubbed my scalp. Then all my memories, dreams, worries, fears, came rushing back to me.

I started to run. I _had_ to get to the Yeerk Pool. I _had _to… before it was too late.

As I ran, I didn't realize what was happening to me. That is, until I stumbled over my short, stubby legs.

"Huh?" I tried to say, but I didn't have lips. A beak! I looked at my arms… wings! But…

Then the instincts kicked in. It almost overwhelmed me, that I wanted to eat that little mouse far off in the distance. That, or a bird smaller than me. I shook off the feeling, and it was surprisingly easy.

I started to flap my wings. I later learned that I had morphed a golden eagle. Anyway, I knew where the entrance to the pool was. I flew over to the school, using the thermals to get there faster. Then I found the door I was looking for. One of those staff bathrooms that kids weren't allowed to go in. The door was on the outside of the school building, so as soon as a man walked into the door, I had easy access to the inside.

I went in, and kept as close to the top as I could. Under me were the images I can't even begin to describe. Then I spotted the cockroaches. They were in a little glass cage. It as almost funny, but I was not laughing. Beside the glass cage was one with metal bars and a padlock that held Tobias. I did a dive toward that cage. I wrapped my talons around the padlock, as I would have done if I ate a mouse. I started flapping my wings, and the padlock broke from the cage.

Whoa! Did you see that? Do you think the eagle knows what's going on? I heard Marco's thought-speech.

Yes, I do know what's going on more than you do, I replied. Tobias, help me get the others out of here. We can go through the top of the dome, where the opening is.

Huh? Diana? But... Jake's "voice".

Tobias got out of the cage, and ripped through the screen part on the top of the others' cage. The cockroaches climbed onto our backs, two on mine and three on Tobias's. It was creepy, letting roaches onto my back. Then Tobias and I did some hard flapping to get to the opening.

"Hey! The Andalites are gone!" I heard someone yell. I looked down. I have a problem of doing that. There were quite a few guns pointed up at us. One fired. I felt a sharp pain in my right wing.

I'm hit! They have guns down there! My left wing was shot! I cried. It was getting harder to get to the top of the dome. I was almost there… there were the banging shots of guns firing all around me. I finally made it. I flew through, and into the entrance of the forest. I went a little way to where the others were. The roaches, Rachel and Cassie, climbed off my back and morphed out. I was trying to concentrate, but I couldn't get a picture of my human body. It was too hard.

"Morph back!" Jake kept repeating. "You're losing blood!"

I… can't…

"Why did you come? You could have stayed back and out of trouble, and this wouldn't have happened," Jake replied.

I had to, I told him in a weak "voice". If I didn't, you would've gotten out, but the Yeerks would have put their plan into action earlier. Then… It took all the strength I had left. And soon, that was almost all gone.

"But you could've gotten yourself killed," he said. His voice was shaking.

I think I did… I could feel myself slipping away. I _was_ dying. Goodbye, brother.

That was it. I shut the eagle eyes, and felt my mind slip away into nothingness.

The Year 2012

I opened my eyes. I was staring at a ceiling. I shifted the position of my body. I heard a slightly creaky sound. I sat up, and then I got dizzy and fell back. Then I slowly sat up again. (Déjà vu.)

"You awake?" someone asked from elsewhere in the room. I looked around. I was sharing the room with 2 other girls. Who? Then I recognized them as Jordan and Sarah.

"I'm awake." How did I get here? Where was here? I thought I was… I looked at the door of the room. It was unusual, because, well, there was no door. Suddenly, an opening appeared, and in stepped a woman. A young woman, pretty, with long blonde hair. She was smiling.

"Rachel!" I cried out in surprise.

"Welcome back, Diana," she greeted. Then I saw who was behind her. Jake. My eyes went wide.

"Is this… are we… I thought…"

"You're back to your time, 2012. And we still remember what you did for us," Jake explained. "The only thing I can say is, thanks."

That was all I needed. To hear my big brother's voice again. I changed it. I changed it all. The Yeerks didn't win. The humans were all free. They traveled in space with the Andalites. We had won.

Epilogue

I was looking through the eyes that I did not control. There was Diana, glad to be back home. Jordan, Sarah, and Jake too.

But I wouldn't stop yelling. Yelling, although no one could hear me.

You're not going to win! I cried. You're the last Yeerk, far away from your stupid Yeerk Pool, and you're going to die!

A mocking laugh. Really? Well, we'll just have to see about that…


End file.
